Afghanistan Kabul: Taliban global ties are expanding five years after the group retook Kabul, Afghanistan, prompting Human Rights Watch to warn that fragmented diplomacy may weaken human-rights pressure.
The Guardian detailed the diplomatic shift in a report published on Aug. 15, 2026 involving Russia, the European Union and several Asian governments. Russia remains the only country to recognise the Taliban administration formally. It did so in July 2025.
Russia and Afghanistan also signed a military-technical cooperation agreement in Moscow on May 27, according to TASS.
European Union officials met a Taliban delegation behind closed doors in Brussels in June. They discussed returns of failed Afghan asylum-seekers and possible diplomatic channels, according to the Associated Press.
The EU said the meeting did not amount to recognition. India, Qatar, China, Iran and several Central Asian governments have also received Taliban officials or expanded contacts, The Guardian reported.
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Their discussions covered trade, security, transport routes and migration. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in March that Afghanistan’s human-rights situation continued to deteriorate sharply.
Taliban rule bars women from universities and most employment. They also deny teenage girls secondary education and impose strict dress requirements.
Recent laws have further reinforced repression, designating many religious minorities, including Shia Muslims, as heretics and imposing strict punishments to silence dissent.
Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said governments must send a “consistent and coherent message” linking closer relations to measurable progress on rights. She said engagement remained necessary for humanitarian work.
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Shivam Shekhawat, an Observer Research Foundation researcher, said Taliban officials treat each foreign contact as a diplomatic gain.
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Shekhawat said the group uses such meetings to project international legitimacy. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the administration seeks relations with all countries. No government besides Russia has announced formal recognition.
